A Judicial Reform Foundation delegation yesterday urged the Control Yuan to investigate Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) on charges of abuse of power and authorizing secret wiretapping.
The delegation also called for abolishing the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID).
Gathered in front of the Control Yuan, the delegation was headed by foundation chairman Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源), board member Joseph Lin (林永頌) and executive director Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正).
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“Prosecutor-General Huang claimed that he was acting in accordance with Article 44 of the Constitution in reporting to the president regarding the alleged illegal lobbying of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平). However, that article concerns how to handle the president calling a consultation in case of disputes between two or more branches of government,” Chiu said.
“However, how can Huang represent the Executive Yuan? His action is a serious violation of the Constitution. We demand that the Control Yuan investigate this thoroughly,” Chiu said.
The delegation also said that no one must interfere in the judicial process, and all those involved in the illegal lobbying case should be investigated, including Wang, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌).
“According to the principle of legislative self-discipline, the investigation into the conduct of Wang and Ker should be done by the Legislative Yuan’s Discipline Committee,” Lin said.
He said that since both men are members of political parties, both parties should investigate their conduct, under the principle of responsible politics.
“If they are found guilty, then they must bear all political responsibility, executive power responsibility and even criminal liability. There is no room for ambiguity on this matter,” Lin said.
The delegation’s request and statement was accepted by Control Yuan member Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳).
In a press release, the foundation called for major reforms in six areas of the judicial process.
These included passing legislation on illegal lobbying, abolishing the SID, establishing checks and balances on prosecutors to prevent selective prosecution, establishing a mechanism to allow public participation in the judicial process, reforming the prosecutorial system and prohibiting investigative units from carrying out wiretapping to “fish for evidence.”
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS